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What Causes Shortness Of Breath And A Heart Murmur In A Child?
hello, i have a 5 year old boy who constantly gets a fever or any illness that seems to be going around, he WILL get it. he always gets short of breath when doing physical activities and general has quite a low energy level. he is under the asthma clinic because his last chest infection left him with saturation level of 89%. Which has improved since and is back up to nearly 100% so i dont think he has asthma. He does sometimes complain of chest pains. During in routine check it was discovered that he has a heart murmur. Do you feel this could all be connected? What do you think the possible causes could be?
Wed, 17 Aug 2016
Hi there,
I am Dr. Deepak, I work in Emergency Department, which includes patient who are children. Its good to see that you are very concerned about the you kid health.
You have mentioned that he gets sick repeatedly and always gets shortness of breaths when doing physical activities and he is general has low energy level. Its a good thing that he has improved and is now better. you also mentioned that sometimes he also gets chest pains and during routine check up it was found that he is having a heart murmur.
Your question is if all these are connected?
I feel there is a 50-50 percent chance that it might be connected. It may or may not be connected, It would be really better and helpful, if you are able to find the cause of murmur by showing a cardiologist and doing an echo. If the cardiologist doesn't find a murmur then there is no need for ECHO.
I have seen few of the kids with similar problem where their energy level is low and repeated have infection mostly chest infection, they had some problem in the structure of there heart, which leads of improper functioning of heart and makes lungs more prone for infection.
thank you
Hope I have dealt with your concern and child should not have any major problem.
I am Dr. Deepak, I work in Emergency Department, which includes patient who are children. Its good to see that you are very concerned about the you kid health.
You have mentioned that he gets sick repeatedly and always gets shortness of breaths when doing physical activities and he is general has low energy level. Its a good thing that he has improved and is now better. you also mentioned that sometimes he also gets chest pains and during routine check up it was found that he is having a heart murmur.
Your question is if all these are connected?
I feel there is a 50-50 percent chance that it might be connected. It may or may not be connected, It would be really better and helpful, if you are able to find the cause of murmur by showing a cardiologist and doing an echo. If the cardiologist doesn't find a murmur then there is no need for ECHO.
I have seen few of the kids with similar problem where their energy level is low and repeated have infection mostly chest infection, they had some problem in the structure of there heart, which leads of improper functioning of heart and makes lungs more prone for infection.
thank you
Hope I have dealt with your concern and child should not have any major problem.
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